Green tech finds (11/4/10)

Sun-powered transportation… in the Sunshine State: Sarasota-area beachside community Pelican Bay will be using solar-powered trams to move people around the development. (via Cleantechnica)

GE making massive EV purchase: General Electric will not only make components for electric vehicles, but plans to become the largest single purchaser of them.

Making green universal via Facebook: NBC-Universal’s Green is Universal campaign will launch a new Facebook application, “Make Green Count,” that connects individual action with the companies wide range of television network brands… and even offer some incentives for taking those actions.

Volvo experimenting with range-extending fuel cells: Electric vehicles have one immediate problem: the range they can travel. Volvo is playing with the idea of adding a fuel cell-powered “range extender” to its C30 DRIVe Electric. (via EarthTechling)

Beyond the LEAF: The Nissan LEAF electric car is getting a ton of attention… which may explain why the Japanese automaker plans to roll out three other all-electric models in the next four years.

Air Force plans to quadruple solar production: The US Air Force has been a big proponent of renewable energy for some time, but plans to up the ante significantly by building three new solar farms comparable to the one at Las Vegas’ Nellis AFB. (via Calfinder’s Solar blog)

Mushroom-based plastics: Mushrooms seem to be the feedstock of choice lately for a number of materials, now including plastics… particularly substitutes for polystyrene. See designer Eben Bayer’s TED talk on the idea above…

Watch water with your iPhone: IBM has released its CreekWatch app, which allows iPhone users to become “citizen scientists,” and report on the health of the local watershed. (via GreenTech Pastures)

Got a green tech find (or finds) from the week? Let us know about it in the comments…